It’s not unusual for individuals to have ringing in their ears, also called tinnitus. Some estimates suggest that 10 percent of people have tinnitus at one time or another, making it one of the most prevalent health conditions in the world. The condition is experienced as a sound in the ear that isn’t really there, typically, it’s a buzzing or ringing, but tinnitus can manifest as other sounds too.
Sadly, the causes of tinnitus aren’t as evident as the symptoms. Some of the wide range of tinnitus causes are temporary, while others can be more permanent.
This is why environmental factors can play a major role in tinnitus symptoms. After all, every setting has a soundscape, and when that soundscape is loud, you could be doing damage to your ears. If your tinnitus is caused by damage, it may end up being permanent.
Why do so many individuals experience tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a condition that causes you to hear a sound that isn’t actually there. Tinnitus normally manifests as a ringing or buzzing, but can also manifest as other sounds, like screeching, thumping, or humming. The sounds are normally rhythmic in nature. Tinnitus will usually clear itself up after a short period of time. In less common cases, tinnitus could become effectively permanent, a condition known as chronic tinnitus.
There are a couple of reasons why tinnitus is so common. The first is that the environmental factors that contribute to tinnitus are also fairly common (more on that in a bit). The second reason is that tinnitus is often a symptom of a root condition or injury. And there are a wide variety of conditions and injuries that can result in tinnitus. Tinnitus is quite common for these reasons.
How can the environment impact tinnitus?
There are a large number of factors that can contribute to tinnitus symptoms, including ototoxic chemicals and medications. But when it involves “environmental” triggers, noise is the biggest culprit. Some locations, such as noisy city streets, can get quite loud. Likewise, anybody who works around industrial equipment all day would be at risk of their environment worsening their tinnitus.
These environmental factors can be incredibly important when considering your hearing health.
As with hearing loss, noise-related damage can eventually trigger tinnitus symptoms. When tinnitus is due to noise damage, it’s normally chronic and often permanent. Some of the most prevalent noise and environment-related causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Music: Listening to music at high volumes is a fairly common practice. Tinnitus will frequently be the outcome if you do this regularly.
- Events: If noise is loud enough, even over short intervals, tinnitus can sometimes be the outcome. Firing a gun or going to a rock concert are instances of this type of noise.
- Traffic: Traffic in heavily populated places can be much louder than you might expect it to be. And you might not even realize that your ears can be damaged at lower volumes than you may expect. Tinnitus and hearing damage can be the outcome of long commutes in these loud settings.
- Noise in the workplace: It could come as a surprise that many workplaces, sometimes even offices, are fairly loud. Tinnitus can eventually result from being in these places for eight hours a day, whether it’s industrial equipment or the din of a lot of people talking in an office.
People often mistakenly believe damage to their ears will only happen at extreme volume levels. As a result, it’s important to wear hearing protection before you think you may need it. Noise associated tinnitus symptoms can frequently be avoided altogether by doing this.
If I have tinnitus, what should I do?
Will tinnitus clear up by itself? Perhaps, in some instances. But your symptoms may be permanent in some instances. There’s no way to identify which is which at the outset. Likewise, just because your tinnitus has reseeded doesn’t mean that noise damage has not happened, resulting in an increased chance of chronic tinnitus down the road.
One of the most main contributing factors to the development of tinnitus is that individuals tend to underestimate the volume at which damage happens to their ears. If you experience tinnitus, your body is telling you that damage has already likely happened. This means that there are several things that you should do to alter your environment so as to prevent more irreparable damage.
For example, you could try:
- If possible, try to decrease environmental volume. If you have any machinery that’s not in use, turn it off, and shut the windows if it’s noisy outside, for example.
- Decreasing the amount of time you spend in loud environments without giving your ears a chance to recuperate.
- Prevent damage by using hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs. Noise canceling headphones can also be a benefit in this regard.
Dealing with symptoms
Many individuals who experience chronic tinnitus find the symptoms to be enormously distracting and uncomfortable. Because of this, they frequently ask: how do you quiet tinnitus?
You should call us for an appointment if you are hearing a persistent ringing or buzzing in your ears. We can help you determine the best way to address your specific situation. For most cases of persistent tinnitus, there’s no cure. Here are a number of ways to manage the symptoms:
- Masking device: This device is similar to a hearing aid, only instead of amplifying sounds, it masks them. Your device will be specifically calibrated to mask your symptoms of tinnitus.
- Retraining therapy: In some instances, you can work with a specialist to retrain your ears, gradually changing the way you process sound.
- Relaxation techniques: High blood pressure has sometimes been associated with an increase in the severity of tinnitus symptoms. So taking a little time to relax (with meditation, for example) can sometimes help reduce your tinnitus symptoms.
- White noise devices: Using a white noise device around your house can help you tune out your tinnitus in some instances.
- Hearing aid: The ringing or buzzing produced by tinnitus can be drowned out by amplifying the volume of external sounds with hearing aids.
Tinnitus has no cure. That’s why controlling your environment to safeguard your hearing is a practical first step.
But treating and managing tinnitus is possible. We’ll be able to establish a specific treatment plan based on your hearing, your tinnitus, and your lifestyle. A white noise machine, for many, might be all that’s required. For others, management might be more intense.
Set up an appointment to learn how to manage your tinnitus symptoms.